Thursday football now on cable TV

Updated 9:56 pm, Friday, September 21, 2012

Dallas Cowboys' DeMarcus Ware celebrates his sack during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

Dallas Cowboys' DeMarcus Ware celebrates his sack during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

Photo: Bill Kostroun, Associated Press

Thursday football now on cable TV

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Time Warner Cable Inc. announced Friday that it reached a multiyear deal to carry the NFL Network and NFL RedZone channel.

The channels will go live for customers starting Sunday, with a full launch expected before Thursday, the NFL said in a statement, but some customers reported having it Friday.

It's expected that NFL RedZone will be launched first, in time for Sunday's games, and NFL Network will be available before Thursday's game between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens, said Jon Gary Herrera, a spokesman for the cable provider.

In the San Antonio area, there are more than 350,000 Time Warner Cable customers, according to Melissa Sorola, a spokeswoman for the cable provider.

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It's unclear how the channel addition will affect the cost of service for Time Warner Cable customers in the San Antonio area, Herrera said. But industry analyst Jeff Kagan said customers can expect to see costs increase whenever cable companies add channels.

“Every time they add a channel, they have to raise the cost for everybody,” he said. “That's why every year you pay 4, 5, 6 percent more than you did the year before. Every 10 years, you pay double.”

NFL Network airs 13 football games on Thursdays throughout the regular season. It will be placed on the cable provider's digital basic tier. RedZone, which shows scoring plays and important situations on game day, will be part of the carrier's Sports Pass, an optional premium tier that also carries Fox Soccer Channel and NBA TV.

For Cliff Puchalski, who is a Chicago Bears fan and a Time Warner Cable customer, not having access to the network was never a big issue. But now that he can watch at home, he doesn't have to figure out where to watch football during the week.

“It's almost a little disappointing that I won't get to get out on that Thursday night now, that it will be available at home,” he said. “But it's certainly nice that you don't have to. It'll be nice to be home.”

Although the cable provider inked the deal to carry the NFL Network, it still is a holdout in regard to the Longhorn Network, Herrera said.

“There's no indication to suggest that there's been any additional progress regarding the Longhorn Network at this time,” he said.

On Friday, the NFL Network also struck a multiyear carriage deal with Bright House Networks, according to the NFL statement. Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks are the country's second- and sixth-largest cable providers, respectively, according to the statement.

The deals comes more than a month after Cablevision Systems Corp. signed a multiyear deal to carry NFL Network.